We examine the impact of the cross-border acquisitions made by firms from emerging markets on employee productivity and employment growth. The literature suggests that cross-border acquisitions enable emerging market firms to obtain new skills and knowledge-intensive assets, which, in turn, may increase productivity. However, our empirical analysis suggests that cross-border acquisitions reduce employee productivity and have a limited impact on employment growth. Moreover, we find that cross-border acquisitions in less-developed countries and in culturally distinct countries reduce productivity. Overall, our findings cast doubt on the idea that cross-border acquisitions enable emerging market firms to improve the productivity of one of their most important resources-namely, their human capital.